Banc Of America To Pay $26M For Research Abuses

Law360, New York (March 14, 2007, 12:00 AM EDT) -- Banc of America Securities LLC has agreed to shell out $26 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle allegations that the firm issued fraudulent research.

As part of the settlement, BAS agreed to censure and a cease-and-desist order in addition to the $26 million disgorgement.

An SEC investigation revealed that from January 1999 to December 2001, BAS failed to detect and prevent the misuse of research reports by the firm. As a result, BAS traders often received information about upgrades and downgrades before...